NORTH COVENTRY ó Shakeem L. Carter, 20, of Norristown was charged Wednesday morning for the murder of 17-year-old Kevin Allen.

Allen was found dead at his fatherís apartment in North Coventry on Feb. 12.

Carter is being charged with murder in the second degree, murder in the third degree, abuse of a corpse, arson and related charges, according to court documents.

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According to police documents, Allen had approximately 20 stab wounds on his head, back and hands, his legs had burn marks on them and his throat had been slashed.

On Feb. 12, Allen took SEPTA bus Route 93 from Norristown to Pottstown in order to retrieve $350 from his fatherís apartment, police said. According to his father, this was the regular way Allen traveled from Norristown to Pottstown.

During the initial investigation of the crime scene, a detective discovered a blood-stained, bent knife on the kitchen floor, police said.

Police recovered two more knives and two bottles of cooking oil in the area around the apartment, police said.

Allenís father told police during a walk-though of his apartment that the money was missing from the spare bedroom, two bottles of cooking oil and three knives were missing from a butcher block in the kitchen, police said.

In video obtained by police, Carter can be seen following Allen onto the bus in Norristown, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, documents said.

At 6:26 p.m., the two men can be seen exiting the bus together in Pottstown, police said.

Police were able to identify Carter by tattoos on his hand and neck that were cross referenced with past law enforcement records, police said.

The SEPTA video shows Carter alone, no longer wearing the black hoodie, on a bus traveling from Pottstown to Norristown at 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 12, according to police documents.

According to police who viewed the video, the defendant was seen examining an injury on his hand as well as pulling his shirt up to look at his torso. Carter was also counting money on the bus, court documents said.

In an interview with the Chester County Detectives on Feb. 19, Carter said he vaguely knew the victim because they played basketball at the Cherry Street Park in Norristown, police said.

Carter denied going to the Hanover Garden Apartments on Feb. 12 but said he had instead gone to meet an acquaintance named ďMeir,Ē police said.On Feb. 21, county detectives issued a search warrant for Carterís home that he shares with Biancha Hernandez and their two children in the 900 block of West Marshall Street in Norristown. Police took a pair of black and blue Nike tennis shoes.

When police interviewed Hernandez, she said she met Allen twice on Feb. 12 once at 12:15 p.m. and once at 3: p.m., police said.

Hernandez told police that herself, Allen and Carter went shopping on the afternoon of Feb. 12 at the Thriftway grocery store, according to police documents.

According to Hernandez, Carter told her that he was going with Allen to Pottstown that night to see Allenís father, police said. When he returned, she told police he was alone, ate and left again, police said.

Hernandez was shown pictures of Carter on the bus and identified him, police said.

Carter was denied bail at his arraignment Wednesday morning as requested by the judge because it is a capital murder case, according to court documents.

His next preliminary hearing is set for March 3 at 9 a.m. before District Judge James V. Deangelo.